Haley gave a soft smile as she stared out over the immaculate and tastefully festive decorations spread all over the Scott backyard, or rather Dan Scott's backyard. After the divorce Deb had opted to purchase a smaller, but still sizeable, home equidistance between the cafe and the high school. As per the court ruling, Nathan spent his weekdays at Deb's and weekends at Dan's. In Haley's mind it had been the perfect solution: Nathan was learning how to get along with his mother and Dan was slowly but surely understanding the concept of hands-off parenting.
Dan had agreed to host the Fourth of July party at the 'mansion' as per the norm and Deb, while now a working mother, had retained enough of her society background to create a beautiful dinner party. It was painfully obvious to everyone how the divorced couple maintained their distance at all times but, thankfully, it looked to be a scuffle-free night.
A loud giggle echoed through the crowd and Haley looked up immediately recognizing the sound. Nathan had his young niece on his shoulders and was slowly making his way through the masses over to her. Nathan's Uncle Cooper, while admittedly the most commitment-phobic man ever, had stepped up the plate when one of his many ex-girlfriends had become pregnant and now shared custody of the small girl. Between her Uncle Nathan and "new" Uncle Lucas, the little girl was being spoiled rotten as each brother competed to be her favorite by the end of the night.
Lucas had been momentarily distracted by a certain blonde, depressive cheerleader and Nathan had taken the opportunity to bring Jamie to her "second" favorite person, by his reasoning. "Haley!" the four-year old cried out excitedly, forgetting where she was for a moment and kicking her feet.
Letting out a soft grunt when his niece's Mary Jane's hit a particularly sensitive spot on his chest, Nathan moved his hands from where they kept her legs steady and quickly lifted her from his broad shoulders. Haley raised an eyebrow at the way he dangled his niece over six feet off the ground and let out a sigh when all Jamie did was giggle happily.
"I wasn't going to drop her," Nathan murmured, leaning over the toddler to give her a soft kiss. "What happened?" he questioned knowingly, having caught the look of annoyance on her face before he came over.
"Nothing, siblings," Haley brushed off quickly, happy that Nathan was now familiar with the sensation of being annoyed with his sibling rather than bloodthirsty. "Taylor, Quinn, and Robbie were fighting over who gets the back row of the van," she sighed, "Good thing three college students can act so maturely." Her family had opted out of the Scott annual bash and instead piled into the family minivan for a six hour drive to Maryland to spend the holiday with Connor and his fiancée Alyssa's family.
Nathan just smirked at the way she easily lifted Jamie into her arms. "I've got a present for you," Haley told the young girl who smiled excitedly. "But only if you're good for your Uncle Nathan and behave tonight," she warned and Jamie nodded obediently. Cooper had more of a "live and let live" philosophy which didn't always work when there were multiple people around, all willing to coo over the adorable toddler. And the girl was adorable with Cooper's dark hair and wide smile and her mother-the-model's, as Haley had often heard, green eyes.
"You spoil her," Nathan teased and Haley predictably set the girl back down on her feet. "I was just kidding," he remarked, his mouth twisting into a frown when Jamie stomped her foot petulantly. Yes, the girl was ridiculously spoiled by her doting uncles and affluent grandparents but she was the youngest grandchild.
Haley just rolled her eyes, pleased and slightly annoyed with the way Jamie responded to not getting what she wanted, pleased because it reminded her remarkably of a certain boyfriend of hers. "Jamie, you've got to behave, remember?" Haley asked softly and the girl almost immediately calmed down.
"Jay, why don't you go run over to your Uncle Lucas?" Nathan suggested and the girl brightened at the idea. He carefully pointed him out to her and watched attentively as she bobbed and weaved through the crowd, easily spotting the legs belonging to the lanky blonde and nearly knocking him over as she went crashing into them.
They both chuckled softly and Nathan turned to view his girlfriend properly. He had caught brief glimpses of her through the crowd as he had approached but as usual his attention was focused on Jamie and making sure that she wouldn't fall of his shoulders. Nathan was grateful for the distraction now because his reaction would not have been appropriate around his four-year old niece.
As per the norm, Haley blushed intensely under his assessing gaze, something he used to keep from doing since it made her too uncomfortable. Now he just reveled in the way she reacted to him. Letting out a low whistle, Nathan chuckled huskily, "Wow, Hales, if I had known you'd be wearing that, well, I…"
"Not another word, Nathan," Haley quickly and efficiently silenced him, sealing her lips over his. She lightly gripped the front of his light blue button down shirt before settling back on her heels, wobbling slightly. Nathan released a light, breathless laugh as he steadied her feet and slyly snuck his eyes back down for a peek from his new vantage point. "Taylor and Quinn ganged up on me. You know I suck at saying no to them," she explained, giving a small shrug.
"And you know this is why I love having them over," Nathan laughed as she pinched his upper arm lightly. "You look great," he swore, meeting her hesitant eyes. The sundress wasn't particularly low-cut or fitted, at least not if it came out of Taylor's closet, but it was more girly and high-maintenance than his Haley was used to and that was enough to make her self-conscious.
Haley hooked her arm into the crook of his, leading him back to the main party. It was partly because she loved being tucked into his side and partly because she didn't trust herself to walk steadily in her heels. "Are you sure?" she questioned teasingly, if Nathan was willing to offer then she was going compliment-fishing especially since Quinn had nearly burned the back of her neck trying to curl her hair.
"Stunning, gorgeous, every word you could think of," Nathan raved, rolling his eyes at her self-satisfied smirk, the one she had copied from him. Leaning into her slightly, Nathan brushed her ear, "Good enough to carry to my bed." Pulling back quickly, he was satisfied to see the expected result, a deep red blush that Haley couldn't get rid of even as they approached his mother.
"Hey Mom," Nathan greeted warmly, his genuine smile enough to excuse him from interrupting her conversation. "Look who finally got here," he pulled the still-blushing Haley close to his side and smiled warmly down at her.
Haley nudged Nathan in the side discreetly before turning her attention to his mother. "Hi, Deb, the place looks great," Haley gushed and the older woman waved her off.
"Thank you, Haley. You look gorgeuous. Nathan, you've done your son duties for the night. You two go have fun with your friends," Deb impatiently shooed them away, smiling as they turned around quickly, yelling their goodbyes.
Haley leaned heavily on Nathan as he led her around the pool. "So how's it been so far? No major Scott family drama?" she asked, smiling up at him.
Nathan just shook his head. "Nope, I think they separated the backyard before the party started. Dad's been steering clear of Coop and Lucas and my grandparents which, you know, is probably the best decision he's made in days."
"That's good. That they're trying," Haley mused out loud. "I mean this isn't exactly a recipe for the best Fourth of July ever but they're trying. It's…unexpected." Nathan just nodded down at her, pausing briefly to pull her into a tight hug. Haley didn't question it, simply wrapping her arms around him and rubbing her hands along his back. She had seen how tense he had been from the moment she spotted him, though he tried to hide it for Jamie's sake. One of his worst fears for the night was a knock-down, drag-out fight between his parents like the one during Dan's birthday but this time for half of Tree Hill to witness.
After a few moments he pulled away, leaning down to affectionately kiss her forehead before they continued their walk. "So I forgot to tell you. Robbie's girlfriend bought him a new guitar for his birthday so he brought back his old one for me. He's going to dig out his old beginner's songbooks and give me some lessons later."
"That's cool. You've wanted to learn to play for a while, right?" Nathan asked. He didn't totally understand the concept of hand-me-downs since, well, Dan Scott's son got nothing but the best. But he tried to be patient like she was and not go out and buy her all the things she wanted because her family couldn't afford them just then.
Nodding excitedly, Haley turned her sparkling eyes towards his. "Yeah, it's really nice of Rob. I mean, Alex lives like twenty minutes away so he could be over there but he's going to stay and teach me. I think he just wants to take my mind off things, you know, after you leave…" her voice trailed off at the end and she felt his body stiffen slightly next to hers.
"He's supposed to," Nathan murmured, "It's not nice of him. He's your brother; it's his duty or whatever." He was sure she noticed the change in his demeanor but it wasn't his fault. Thanks to the stupid small talk and polite chatter he had to make with all of his parents' friends while waiting for her, his departure in a week had grown to be a sore spot.
Changing the subject even further Haley quickly blurted out, "I should go say hi to your grandparents." The second the words left her mouth, Haley wanted to clasp a hand over her mouth and pray that somehow she could take them back.
Nathan just stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "I mean if you want," he drew out slowly, taking in the panicked expression in her eyes. "Grandma still likes you," he offered kindly, mindful of the time Grandpa Royal and Haley had butted heads the morning of the state championship. He had been convinced he needed a warm-up run; Haley had been convinced he needed more sleep. Things did not end well.
"I should," Haley told him reluctantly. "I don't want to have this weird tension with your Grandfather. I was just so angry that day. I mean, Dan was still being…Dan and then he…I don't even know. I should just go apologize. I don't normally talk to elders like that; I don't know what's wrong with me."
"I do," Nathan smiled, taking in her flustered hand movements and the way she kept shifting her feet. "You love me and you were looking out for me. You were right that day, you know? I never said it but I did need sleep. Warming up is for before the game, not at seven in the morning. And I'm pretty sure Grandpa likes you, likes that you love me enough to argue with him."
Haley just nodded tersely, not convinced of the words coming out of his mouth. Nathan just smiled at her stubbornness, remembering how later Royal had told him that 'he had some girl, and he better be careful of how he treats her.' "Come on," Nathan urged, taking her hand and leading her back towards the crowd to find his grandparents.
"Grandma! Grandpa!" Nathan called out as he neared them. They were by the back gate leading out to the driveway and probably ready to leave. Royal had stopped staying for the fireworks display years ago, claiming they were much too bright and noisy for his old self.
"You don't need to shout, Nathan," Royal gruffly chastised him. A small upward twitch of his lips occurred as he spotted the short girl next to his grandson. "Haley, how are you?"
"Just fine, how are you two?" Haley returned politely, resisting the urge to curtsey or something. "How's the new house?" she questioned, remembering that they had traded in their spacious mansion for something less sizeable and "with fewer stairs" as Nathan had put it.
"Wonderful, we just finished the landscaping and it's gorgeous, Haley," May easily replied, "You and Nathan should come by some time, maybe over your Christmas break." May reached out and patted the young girls' arm affectionately, aware of the way she fidgeted under Royal's stare.
"You going to support our boy at Wake?" he questioned roughly.
"Every game," Haley promised, smiling sweetly at first her boyfriend and then his old coot of a grandfather. "Just like always," she threw in the subtle reminder, not faltering for a second.
Royal just nodded thoughtfully, "That's good. He's going to need it, tougher competition. I was looking over your stats the other day, Nathan, on the computer." Nathan just nodded, unsure of where this was going. "Did you know that some of your best came after you started dating Haley here? That's something isn't it?"
Haley finally took a deep breath as the elderly man winked at her, a small smile appearing. "Must be coincidence," Haley returned, shrugging lightly.
May also seemed to breath a little easier, letting out a small laugh. "Okay, you kids can head back to the party. You've done your duty, sending off the grandparents and all."
Nathan and Haley waved them to the end of the driveway where one of the valets Deb had hired quickly took off down the street to fetch their car. Haley breathed a loud sigh of relief before collapsing against Nathan's stable chest. "See? Told you he likes you," Nathan gloated, grateful that things were continuing to go his way.
Haley grabbed the front of his shirt, ragging them both back to the party, but Nathan stopped suddenly. "Did you know," he whispered after circling both arms around her waist and pulling her back to him, "that my best game all season, and I think in my entire career, came after the night we…" He trailed off suggestively, holding in the laughter as she flushed pink.
"We're going to miss the fireworks," Haley reminded him, as he took her hand and led her up the walkway to his house.
"You'll see them anyway," Nathan responded cheekily, picking up the pace when she playfully slapped his butt.
Jamie watched the pair curiously over Lucas's shoulder. He was carrying her back towards Cooper, unmindful of the dirt her shoes were rubbing into his dress shirt. "Where are Uncle Nathan and Haley going?" the young girl questioned quietly and Lucas turned to look over his shoulder in time to see the back door slide shut.
"Uh…they're going…they need…um…hey Cooper!" he eagerly called, walking faster.